Opinion | State medical boards should punish doctors who spread false information about covid and vaccines

The best known of these groups calls itself “America’s Frontline Doctors” — though many physicians in this group have never practiced emergency medicine, and some haven’t practiced any form of medicine for years. Amid the Trump administration’s disastrous handling of the pandemic, this group was ushered into the public arena to discredit medical science. They began by trying to convince Americans that the potential for severe illness from covid-10 was a hoax, in the interest of keeping the U.S. economy open and thus fueling Donald Trump’s reelection campaign. Through their social media platforms and rallies, they continue to sow distrust of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and dissuade their audiences from following public health guidelines. In January, the group published a white paper denouncing vaccines.Its members have held rallies to spread their message in states including Florida, Texas and California — all of which are now experiencing covid spikes. Now, with the delta variant, those cases include a large number of very sick children.

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